ONE ELECTRON ATOM AS A PROBE OF SPACE-TIME CURVATURE

1980
13 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.D 22 (1980) 1922-1934

Citations per year

19811992200320142025051015
Abstract: (APS)
We consider a one-electron atom in an arbitrary curved spacetime. After reviewing the generalization of the Dirac equation to curved spacetime, we develop the perturbation theory of degenerate stationary states taking into account the Hermiticity properties appropriate to curved spacetime. We then calculate the Hamiltonian of the Dirac equation in Fermi normal coordinates to first order in the Riemann tensor, including the corrections to the electromagnetic field. As an application of these results, we obtain expressions in terms of the Riemann tensor for the shifts produced by the local curvature in the nonrelativistic 1S, 2S, and 2P energy levels, and in the relativistic 1S12, 2S12, and 2P12 energy levels.
  • QUANTUM MECHANICS
  • general relativity
  • GRAVITATION
  • ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD
  • PERTURBATION THEORY
  • FIELD THEORY: SPACE-TIME
  • FIELD THEORY: TENSOR
  • MATHEMATICAL METHODS: DIFFERENTIAL GEOMETRY
  • FIELD EQUATIONS: SOLUTION
  • Dirac equation